Dietary Supplement Alpha Lipoic Acid

Alpha lipoic acid is a bi-soluble antioxidant that can be synthesized by the human body. Currently, its only clinically proven effect and recognized by various countries’ diagnosis and treatment guidelines is to improve diabetic peripheral neuropathy.； Ordinary healthy people can consume sufficient amounts in their daily diet without the need for additional supplements. The whitening, anti-aging, fat reduction, liver protection and other effects promoted on the market lack evidence from large-scale human trials. Excessive supplementation may cause adverse reactions such as headaches and gastrointestinal discomfort.

The first time I seriously came into contact with this thing was four years ago, when I accompanied my aunt to the endocrinology department for a follow-up visit. She had type 2 diabetes for almost 10 years. During that time, she always complained about numbness in her feet, as if she was always wearing two layers of thick socks, and she couldn't walk up the stairs accurately. The doctor prescribed alpha-lipoic acid injection, and then also ordered oral administration of medical-grade alpha-lipoic acid tablets. When I was picking up medicine at the pharmacy, the lady at the counter came over and handed over a lipoic acid, a health product with fancy packaging. She said that this product has higher purity than the one prescribed in the hospital, and it can also whiten and resist aging. It can even eliminate chloasma after two months of use. I was really excited at the time, so I turned around and asked the doctor who does clinical nutrition, and then I got to know the details of this product.

The most special thing about it is its double solubility. When vitamin C is soluble in water, it can only hang around in the extracellular fluid. When vitamin E is soluble in oil, it can penetrate into the cell membrane. Lipoic acid is attached to both ends and can directly enter the mitochondria in the core of the cell to eliminate free radicals. It is no exaggeration to say that it is a "wall-penetrating expert" among antioxidants. But the problem is that our human body’s liver can synthesize lipoic acid itself. There is also a lot of it in the spinach, broccoli, red meat, and animal liver that we usually eat. People who eat normally can consume 5-10mg from food every day, which is completely sufficient for daily metabolic needs, and there is no need for additional supplements.

Nowadays, most of the miraculous effects that are touted on the Internet are untenable. For example, in anti-aging, there are indeed many cell and animal tests showing that it can reduce oxidative stress levels. There are even small-scale human trials that say that taking 300mg of lipoic acid every day for two months will improve skin moisture and gloss. But if you look at the sponsors of these trials, they are basically beauty brands or health care product manufacturers. The sample size is only 30 or 40 people. There is not even a strict control group. Some even do not count whether the subjects use whitening essences and sunscreen at the same time. The academic community does not accept this conclusion at all. It is also said to be able to reduce fat and protect the liver. I have a fitness friend who has stepped into this pit. Last year, he heard from fitness bloggers that lipoic acid can improve insulin sensitivity and will not easily gain fat. He dared to eat 600mg a day. Within two weeks of eating it, he started to suffer from acid reflux and headaches. He went to the hospital and had a full-abdominal CT scan. There were no problems. The doctor asked him to stop all the supplements in his hands. After three days, all symptoms disappeared. Those experiments that say it can protect the liver are basically experiments on rats. The dosage given to rats would have to be taken a dozen pills a day to be effective if converted to humans. That dosage would have already irritated the gastric mucosa intolerable, and the gain outweighed the gain.

Of course, not everyone thinks it is useless. My friends who practice functional medicine take a neutral stance: If you have been on a long-term diet to lose weight, or your synthesis ability has declined as you get older, and you usually eat less vegetables and meat, supplementing with a low-dose lipoic acid of 100-200mg every day will not have any major side effects. It may indeed improve the state of fatigue easily, but this is just a "possibility" and there is no solid evidence to support it. The friends who work in clinical nutrition are much more direct, saying that this thing is purely IQ-taxing for healthy people, and there is a chance of a few thousandths of adverse reactions such as allergies and limb twitching, so it is not worth taking the risk.

To be honest, I would never buy lipoic acid as a health supplement. At home, my aunt takes prescription medicines prescribed by the hospital. A bottle of 100 tablets costs less than 80 yuan. The dosage is accurate and the purity is guaranteed. If you are really curious and want to try it, don’t buy the imported Internet celebrity model that is highly praised and sells for 300 to 400 yuan a bottle. Just buy the regular OTC one. Don’t eat more than 200mg a day. If you don’t feel any change after taking it for a month, stop immediately. Don’t eat blindly all year round. Especially pregnant women, nursing mothers and children, please don’t touch this stuff. There is currently insufficient safety data to support their consumption. Don’t use yourself as a guinea pig.